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HSBC SVNS World Championship – Nairobi

12 Teams have landed in Nairobi ahead of the opening round of HSBC SVNS 2 this weekend, 14 and 15 February, at Nyayo National Stadium.

Rested and ready to go again after their heroics in Dubai last month, HSBC SVNS 3 qualifiers South Africa, Canada, Argentina and Belgium join eight established sevens nations in Kenyan capital Nairobi this weekend at the start of a six-week, three-tournament continent and ocean-crossing quest to reach the HSBC SVNS Championship.

South Africa, Spain and Argentina’s women are bidding to join their male counterparts later this year, while Canada and USA’s men are aiming to follow in their women’s team in reaching the Championship tournament. But the likes of Kenya, Uruguay and Brazil, who have all graced the main HSBC SVNS competition in recent seasons, will be keen to return to the top table of sevens rugby.

All 12 sides will look to get off to a quick start in Nairobi, before a long trip to South America for back-to-back stopovers in Montevideo and Sao Paulo next month as they vie for a top-four finish to secure a place in the elite end-of-season HSBC SVNS World Championship Series.

The winner-takes-all championship will feature 24 teams competing in a total nine days of high-level rugby across stops in Hong Kong (April), Valladolid (May) and Bordeaux (June).

At the captains’ photo call two days before the inaugural HSBC SVNS 2 Series kicks off in Nairobi, the host nation’s men’s captain Samuel Asati emphasised his team’s desire to return to the top of the HSBC SVNS ladder, while making a promise to the fans, who have sold out the Nyayo National Stadium. “We’re going to play in front of our fans — we’ve been traveling with our fans all over the world, but now it’s a chance to play here in front of them. For sure, we are not going to disappoint [them].

“Come Sunday, after the tournament, that will be the start of our journey back to Division One, and I hope we will have started quite well and set the tempo.”

Canada’s Lockie Kratz, meanwhile, said. “We are just trying to restore the standards that we had before, and I think we’re putting this programme in a good place, tournament by tournament.

“We want to start this one off in Kenya with a bang and then keep building on each tournament. We’re very fortunate to be here and we’re looking forward to it.”

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